One of the first points the authors make is that publishing is now about participation.

Someone who uses social media successfully doesn’t just create content he or she also creates conversations, and those conversations create communities.

I couldn’t agree more. What is the point of social media if not to create conversations and communities with the readers who purchase our books?

The authors also include statistics from the Pew Research Center. A steady 18% of Twitter users either have completed some college or have an undergraduate or graduate degree and earn at least $75,000 a year. That represents buying power.

Of course Twitter is a great place for authors of Young Adult novels since 31% of Twitter users are between the ages of 18 and 29.

The authors, obvious fans of Twitter, consider this platform to be the most powerful microblogging service available and state that it needs to be included in all online marketing campaigns, large or small.

I couldn’t agree more. Despite the genre you write, Twitter is an integral part of every author’s marketing platform.

5 Tips for Setting Up Your Twitter Profile

Here are some of the authors’ best tips for setting up your profile:

Your handle is the first place you can make a mistake when setting up your profile. Twitter allows 15 characters, and it’s always best to use your full name. If your name isn’t available, select a username that’s closely associated with you. And they offer this great piece of advice:

Tossing in numbers as a way of keeping a version of a common name to yourself works fine in passwords, but as a username that’s going to form a part of your URL, it’s a strict no-no.

Create an inviting profile.

Don’t use a shortened URL for your website address. Using the complete URL will help to generate curiosity and possibly name recognition of you website.

Twitter gives you 160 characters to write your bio. Some people like to write a bio that discusses a particular project or in the case of an author, a book. What you need to remember is that your bio is searchable on the web so what you write in your bio will be visible on Google by people who search for you. Do you want readers to know that you love #frappuccinos or that you just completed a new novel?

Your face should take up most of the space in your profile photo, and you should keep background distractions to a minimum. You should smile and make eye contact, take lots of photos and select the best image, and name the image properly. In other words, instead of naming the image IMG438-7985, give the image your name.

7 Strategies for Reaching Critical Mass

The book outlines seven parameters for building an engaged following. First, however, the authors share two guiding principles: you have to become an active followers and you need to join the conversation, not just broadcast your message.

Building a long list of followers doesn’t happen overnight. It comes as a result of networking on the site, providing good tweets that other people want to read, and being active and other people’s discussions.

Now, let’s get to their seven strategies.

Look for people you already know through your web-based email accounts.

Tweet your new blog posts.

Give away your content. The authors noted the success by a writer:

Mike Wells (@MikeWellsAuthor) is a best-selling thriller and suspense author who uses Twitter to gain followers and readers. As he states in his bio, follow him and you’ll get a free e-book.

This book continues to offer tips and cover topics that help users dive deep into the Twitter experience. For example there are chapters on how to be interesting on Twitter, how to use Twitter to build your brand, how to leverage Twitter to drive follower behavior, how to track results and test strategies, and how to make money on Twitter.

The last chapter covers a variety of applications you can use to improve your Twitter experience. These include tools that I’ve mentioned before: SocialOomph, TweetBeep, TwitterCounter, TweetDeck, HootSuite, and others.

Finally, the book also includes a section on recommended Twitter users to follow.

If you are serious about deepening your relationships on Twitter and building your author brand, this is a great book.